The actor who all of us known from "My Three Sons" also did a few Westerns in his career and this one, Face of a Fugitive, is one of those. Others include Good Day for a Hanging and At Gunpoint. Out of the ones I've seen him in, this is my second-favorite. I like this movie a lot for many reasons. There is a good gunfight at the end, which is worlds better than some of the other ones we see in old 50s movies. The cast is well talented and the plot was very believable. Starring along with Fred MacMurray is Lin McCarthy and Dorothy Green. And there is also the famous James Coburn and an actor who I'm sure none of you have ever heard about, but he played the main villain of the show: the rancher named Reed Williams. Played by a fine actor named Alan Baxter, who, in my opinion, should have gotten a better career fame than what he did. You can see Alan Baxter in a lot of Westerns. He was also in Chisum as the governor, a few "Gunsmoke" episodes, and several other movies. Overall, Face of a Fugitive is a good movie and definitely worth checking out. And if you liked Fred MacMurray's performance in this, then you will definitely like Good Day for a Hanging.

Fred MacMurray doesn't really have the face for an outlaw, nor the voice, which makes it difficult to picture him in a Western. However in "Face Of A Fugitive", he fares much better than he did in "The Oregon Trail" from the same year. The unshaven look and casting as a loner adds to the appeal of his character Jim Larsen, who takes on the masquerade of a mine inspector looking for a change. Trouble finds him after escaping arrest from a territorial marshal, but the brother who helped him winds up dead, and things get even more complicated when circumstances find him siding with a lawman against Reed Williams (Alan Baxter), a rancher who intends to fence his range land in violation of a government order. Wouldn't you know it, sheriff Mark Riley (Lin McCarthy) has a widowed sister (Dorothy Green) who falls for Larsen/Kincaid, and the feeling is mutual. It's the typical recipe for trouble.

You know, I had to stop and think about the value of merchandise as presented in the story. Larsen paid eighteen dollars for a gun belt and firearm, but only five dollars for a pair of pants and a jacket. Perhaps it was meant to indicate that protection had it's price in the old West, but I wonder if the numbers were accurate; I'll have to dig up an 1880's Sears catalog.

The action takes place in a Wyoming town called Tangle Blue, which is one of the coolest sounding place names I've come across in a Western, and there are plenty. I wonder if that might have been the inspiration for Bob Dylan's song "Tangled Up In Blue"? Nah, I doubt it.

You'll probably have to look long and hard for another story where the outlaw on the run needs to get as creative in dispatching a dead body. With no alternative, Larsen bundles up brother Jim in a canvas mail sack and heaves him off a train as it heads over a river crossing. Somehow you just knew that it wasn't the last you'd see of the young outlaw, he washes up ashore some time later, and for Larsen/Kincaid, it arrived with postage due. By the time it's all over, the Williams gang is no match for reluctant outlaw Larsen in a creative shoot out, leaving sheriff Riley a tough time matching up the face with the wanted poster.